The Urban and Regional Planning Department at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa this week established the Dinell Outstanding Urban and Regional Planning Alumni Award.

The first recipient of the alumni award, named after emeritus professor Tom Dinell of Urban and Regional Planning, will be announced in November.

The $1,500 award will go to an outstanding planner who has graduated from the department with a master's degree or doctorate and has demonstrated:

Dedication to furthering the public interest, social justice and broad-based participation in planning;

Commitment to balancing the physical and social aspects of planning;

Personal leadership in planning, particularly in mentoring planners with less experience; and

High degree of personal integrity and professional ethics.

"It is wonderful," said UH Urban and Regional Planning department chairman Karl Kim in a news release, "that we now have this award to recognize our outstanding alumni who are contributing so much to the well-being of people, particularly in Hawai'i, Asia and the Pacific."